Engulf

Engulf is a two player game with a non-traditional interface. Players control two amoebas with laser pointers in an effort to engulf one and other. A PlayStation Eye and OpenCV are used to track the laser points. It was completed as my final project for the Bootcamp summer program at Parsons the New School for Design. Engulf is written in Processing.

The original description follows.

You are an amoeba trapped in a tight space. You must eat or be eaten. Grow larger by guiding your nucleus into your enemy’s mass to consume it. Cut off parts of its cell structure to dissolve them into your own. Your enemy will be doing the same, and you must always be on guard.

Amoebas are not marathon runners. After a minute, they will grow tired. The smaller and weaker cell will accept consumption as its ultimate fate and give up the fight. Spread quickly and widely to make sure this isn’t you.

In the microscopic realm, there is no second place. Phagocytosis is a bitch.